Greenland’s parliament would bring forward a meeting to discuss its response to US threats to take control of the Arctic island, the leaders of the five political parties in the Greenlandic assembly said in a joint statement on Friday.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said the US must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich territory.
“We emphasize once again our desire for the US contempt for our country to end,” the Greenlandic party leaders said.
Photo: Reuters
“We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said in the statement, posted on social media by Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
A meeting of Greenland’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, would be brought forward to ensure that a fair and comprehensive political debate takes place and that the people’s rights are secured, the leaders said.
The date of the meeting has not yet been determined.
Greenland’s parliament last met in November last year and had been scheduled to meet again on Feb. 3, according to its Web site.
There is no sum of money from Trump that would persuade Greenlanders to join the US, two Greenlandic lawmakers said.
Any attempt by the US president to entice the Arctic island with cash is doomed to fail and only risks pushing Greenlanders further away, said Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenland representatives in the Danish legislature.
Chemnitz chairs the committee focused on the territory’s affairs.
Trump administration officials have discussed sending direct payments to the island’s residents in an effort to lure them to break away from Denmark and join the US, Reuters reported.
The amounts under discussion ranged from US$10,000 to US$100,000 per person, according to the report.
“No amount of money can buy our national soul,” Chemnitz said. “It’s disrespectful to think that you can buy a people. What use is a one-off payment when your entire foundation is being torn away?”
Trump said he would “do something on Greenland whether they like it or not” and that US military presence in the island under a 1951 agreement with fellow NATO member Denmark is not enough to guarantee the island’s defense.
The US president’s renewed push for Greenland, after US military intervention in Venezuela, worries many of the island’s 57,000 inhabitants, whose widely held goal is to eventually become an independent nation. A 2009 agreement between Greenland and Denmark explicitly recognized Greenlanders’ right to independence if they choose, but while all five parties say they want independence, they differ on how and when to achieve it.
“We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for a quick decision, delay or interference from other countries,” the party leaders said, adding that they sought dialogue based on diplomacy and international principles.
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